June 2007 News Briefs on STEM Education
In this Issue:
5.
Newly introduced STEM Education Legislation
As
3. Despite Votes, Innovation Agenda Bills Still Face
Obstacles (National Journal Tech Daily 5/4)
With Senate approval of a broad competitiveness bill
and House passage of two smaller measures addressing mathematics and science
education and basic research, high-tech industry lobbyists are hopeful that
Congress might pass legislation this year to help the
4. Bad at math? Stereotypes hamper women
(Chicago Sun Times 5/24)
Just how damaging are stereotypes? Researchers have long known that
negative stereotypes undermine performance in the area related to the
stereotype. Women, for example, underperform on math tests after being told men
tend to be better at math.
Recently
Introduced STEM Legislation
This is a record of recently introduced
legislation related to STEM Ed. but does not represent Caucus endorsement of
any legislation
H.R.2204
(S. 1339 – Kennedy)
Title: Teacher Excellence for All Children Act of 2007
Sponsor: Rep
Miller, George [D-CA-7] (introduced 5/8/2007)
Cosponsors: 48
Committees: House Education and Labor;
Latest Major Action: 5/8/2007 Referred to House
committee. Status: Referred to the Committee on Education and Labor, and in
addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently
determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as
fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Title: 21st Century Competitiveness Act of 2007
Sponsor: Rep
Gordon, Bart [D-TN-6] (introduced 5/10/2007)
Cosponsors: 21
Committees: House Science and Technology
Latest Major Action: 5/22/2007 Received in the Senate.
Read twice. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders.
Calendar No. 159.
H.R.2436
Title: Nanotechnology in the Schools Act
Sponsor: Rep
Hooley, Darlene [D-OR-5] (introduced 5/22/2007)
Cosponsors: 6
Committees: House Science and Technology
Latest Major Action: 5/31/2007 Referred to House
subcommittee. Status: Referred to the Subcommittee on Research and Science
Education.
S.1389
Title: Climate Change Education Act
Sponsor: Sen
Obama, Barack [D-IL] (introduced 5/14/2007) Cosponsors: 3
Committees: Senate Health, Education, Labor, and
Pensions
Latest Major Action: 5/14/2007 Referred to Senate committee.
Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor,
and Pensions.
The Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM)
Education Caucus’ primary mission is to promote all areas of STEM
Education including K-12, higher education and workforce issues in
Congress. At its core, the caucus functions to increase the visibility
and importance of STEM Education and educate Members of Congress and their
staffs on the technical issues and public-policy options surrounding STEM education.
The Caucus serves as an information source and a catalyst for improving STEM
education.
If you would like to join the Caucus, please contact Julia Jester
(x53831) in Mr. Ehlers’ office or Wendy Adams (x52161) in Mr. Mark
Udall’s office.
Published Online: May 15, 2007
Published in Print: May 16, 2007
As
Congress pushes ahead with legislation that seeks to improve math and science
education, a new federal report questions the effectiveness of the federal
government’s current investments in those areas.
The
report, released May 10 by the Academic Competitiveness Council, concludes that
there is too much overlap and too little coordination between mathematics and
science programs, and no consistent way of judging their value.
The
council’s work was mandated by Congress two years ago. Chaired by
Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings, the panel included representatives
of numerous federal agencies that oversee math and science programs.
For More Info
Read the executive
summary and the full text of the report, posted by the U.S. Department of Education.
An
estimated 105 such programs exist across agencies, with a combined budget of
more than $3 billion a year.
Currently,
only a small number of math and science programs—10 out of 115 agency
programs and individual projects reviewed—hold themselves to
“scientifically rigorous evaluations” that have produced measurable
results, the report says. Another 15, it says, use that standard but have not
yet reported results.
“There
is a general dearth of evidence of effective practices and activities” in
math and science education, the report says. Even programs that have been
studied extensively, it adds, have not yielded enough evidence to produce
“decisions about education policy or classroom practice.”
The
largest chunk of federal programs reviewed, or 29 percent, are housed within
the National Science Foundation; 23 percent are overseen by the Department of
Education.
The
report does not single out weak programs that should be carved out of the
federal budget. The goal was to study how such programs are being evaluated and
to recommend a better process, said Kenneth R. Zeff, a senior consultant at the
Education Department and the agency’s representative on the council.
“It’s
important to understand how much the federal government spends on math and
science education,” Mr. Zeff said. “I don’t think that was
clear before.”
The
language of the report highlights several Bush administration proposals that
seek to improve math and science education. Those proposals have failed to win
congressional support, however. Last month, House and Senate lawmakers instead
approved separate pieces of math and science legislation, which would expand a
number of existing federal teacher-recruitment and -training programs. ("Math-Science
Bills Advance in Congress," May 2, 2007.)
The
House and Senate have yet to reconcile differences between the two bills.
The
administration has questioned the cost and effectiveness of the programs
supported in the bills. But Mr. Zeff said the competitiveness council’s
report was meant to provide “good-government-oriented”
recommendations for evaluating programs, not fodder for a debate over
legislation.
Federal
programs place too little emphasis, the report says, on outcomes, or measurable
results, from math and science spending. Improved test scores in math and
science under the No Child Left Behind Act is a clearer method for judging
results, it argues.
The
council recommends that agencies establish a way of conducting “rigorous,
independent” evaluations of programs, and make funding for them
contingent on those reviews.
James
Brown, the co-chairman of the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics
Education Coalition, said he was not surprised by the report’s findings,
or its call for tougher standards in judging programs. His Washington-based
group supports both of the math and science bills awaiting consideration by
Congress; the teacher-training and other programs in those bills meet the
council’s expectations, he said.
Those
programs “have been proven,” Mr. Brown said. “You’re
not adding programs that are off in left field.”
Vol. 26, Issue 37, Page
23
National Journal Tech Daily 5/4
Despite
Votes, Innovation Agenda Bills Still Face Obstacles
TECHNOLOGY
With Senate approval of a broad
competitiveness bill and House passage of two smaller measures addressing
mathematics and science education and basic research, high-tech industry
lobbyists are hopeful that Congress might pass legislation this year to help
the
Several high-tech lobbyists described how
remarkable they found it that all the key Senate committee chairmen endorsed
broad legislation, but said it is unclear whether the House will do the same.
Another hindrance is disagreement from the Bush administration and some
Republicans on what math and science education programs should get more
funding. The White House would rather divert funds to programs under its
signature 2002 No Child Left Behind Act rather than boost some education programs
run by the National Science Foundation. Sen. John
Sununu, R-N.H., unsuccessfully attempted to strike a provision in
the Senate bill strengthening NSF's education and human resources directorate,
but it is an issue that could resurface as the bills are reconciled. Another
difference involves telecommunications provisions included in the Senate bill
but not the House legislation. Danielle Jafari, senior director of government
affairs at the Telecommunications Industry Alliance, said TIA will lobby to make
sure that language directing $200 million in NSF grants to telecom research
stays in the legislation.
The bills represent roughly half of the four
items identified in the competitiveness agenda. The remaining items are
immigration reform aimed at allowing more highly skilled foreigners to work in
the